One Shot Wonders
by Bora Olldashi
Summary: A collection of one shots based on TB and SVM characters. Fluff, angst, lemons, humor. It's like a circus, there's entertainment for all  hopefully . Inspired by music  see Ch 1 for more details .
1. The Sitch

**One Shot Wonders**

So I had this brilliant (never has that word been used more loosely than in this sentence) idea to create a collection of one shot stories. With the exception of _A Vampire's Guide To The Galaxy_ and _Better Not Look Down_, I have rarely been able to muster the focus (or desire) to write entire stories. I get these ideas but they usually fizzle out before I can come up with an actual plot. So then I thought, why not write one shots? And _then_ I thought, why not write a collection of one shots? Make it a single story, with each chapter being it's own stand alone one shot. I'm sure there is a very good reason not to do this. But I've never let a thing let rationality get in my way before, so I'm going to plow onward with this one.

If it's a stupid idea, I'll take the blame for that. If you hate it and feel like it's ruining your life and/or happiness, please stop reading! Seriously, like right now. If you're on board, though, or just curious to see what kind of shenanigan this is going to turn into, please make yourself at home. I want to let you know right now that some of these one shots are going to be total fluff, some are going to be hilarious (in my own very conceited opinion), some are going to be angsty and some will be all of those things. Kind of like a Fanfiction grab bag. Something for everyone.

Another thing you'll probably notice is that the titles of these one shots are also song titles. I'm a huge music fan (who isn't, really?) and I have a very eclectic taste so if you choose to soldier on with me, you will see titles from a wide range of genres. And the story will probably have a plot very similar to the lyrics in the song. Although some will have twists (one in particular that I'm stupid excited about, I'll toss in the A/N which one that is when I post it). Just FYI, I have a lengthy 'syllabus' (if you will) already created with the titles and plots of a boatload of stories that I want to include in this beast.

Also, since this is one single story, I have put it under the category of True Blood with no genre or character tags. That is one of the pit falls I've foreseen with this and to combat it, I will enter a brief description/genre in a little A/N at the beginning of each O/S. That way, if it doesn't tickle your fancy you can just close the window. No big. As far as characters, I will tell you that most of the time it's gonna be Eric and Sookie. Although I have a funny one planned for Jason and have been kicking around the idea of replacing Eric with Alcide in some of these stories (though never in my heart) (or personal fantasies)(had to be said). I've even dreamt up a couple starring Debbie Pelt. Trust me, I'm just as shocked about that as you are. While I plan on using characters from TB (like Godric) there will also be characters from SVM, like Amelia.

Last thing, I'm going to tentatively schedule updates to this for every weekend (probably Sundays). With my multi-chaps, I get little-kid-on-Christmas excited when I write a new chapter so they're always updated sporadically. With this, since everything is stand alone, I think I can be a little more regular. I also feel like I should probably warn you that this may crash and burn. But I'm still gonna try it.

So yeah. Ok. That's the sitch (hence the title of this first chapter). I'll be posting the first installment momentarily. If you're venturing forward, happy reading =)

P.S. I'm thinking about moving _An Unfortunate Turn Of Events _into this story, but I might leave it be. One day, I think that could turn into a multi-chap but I'm still undecided. Just wanted to give the heads up in case I make the decision to do that.

P.P.S You're all marvelous. Which you so should know by now as much as I tell you, but I wanted to remind you in case you forgot.


	2. Break Each Other's Hearts Again

**Sookie and Eric had a brief but intense romance just after college, which was ended by Sookie's career choices. In a hotel bar on a business trip, Sookie reminisces about that summer two years later only to realize that Eric is also at the bar. When they start drinking together, will they be able to deny the love they still have for each other? AH/AU/OOC/WTF/OMG (lol) CH/AB own all this stuff.  
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**Based on the song **_**Break Each Other's Hearts Again**_** by Reba McEntire and Don Henley.**

I sat on the edge of the bed in the hotel room, glancing between the door and the laptop sitting on the desk. It was tempting to log on and continue working, though I'd spent over ten hours at a regional office already that day. What I really needed was a stiff drink or two and a good sleep. My eyes cut back and forth; bed, door. Door, bed. I stood suddenly and grabbed my purse on the way to the door. I could work forever if I let myself. The hotel bar won this time.

Catching my reflection in the hall mirror, I made a pit stop in the bathroom. I brushed through my hair a few times and swiped on some lip gloss. Otherwise, everything looked about as good as it was going to. The elevator ride took only a couple of minutes and soon, I was seated in a swiveling chair on the corner of the bar. Though the place was pretty busy, the bartender made her way over and quickly took my order. I'd been drinking gin and tonics since I was barely legal for a reason: They were tasty and they got the job done.

I love my job, Lord knows that's the truth, but I'd been feeling the strain lately. For the past two years I'd been traveling almost constantly, which was something I'd always wanted. What I hadn't realized was that when you travel all the time, you get set in a routine of working yourself to death. Granted, my work days technically ended at four o'clock like everybody else, but without the temptation to visit family or pal around with my friends, I tended to stick with the one constant in my life. Work. It's a great job, really. Which is a lucky thing, considering what I'd given up for it. He hadn't made regular appearances in my thoughts for a while but when he did, it was always a fresh blow. I coughed a little, trying to clear the sudden tightness in my throat, and took a long sip of my drink.

_Eric Northman was my first big love. My only big love, really. He'd come barreling into my life like an oversized Nordic hurricane the summer I turned twenty two. I was moving back home just after college and he'd rented out the old Compton place across the cemetery from my Gran's house. Old Man Jesse had relocated to the new old folks home in Shreveport and his grandson decided to let the house out after a few minor repairs. I still remember the day I pulled up Gran's driveway and almost swallowed my tongue when I saw him pushing a lawn mower through her yard. He was wearing tennis shoes and a pair of basketball shorts and I thanked the Lord that I didn't have a penis. Because if I had, I surely would have been sporting the most monumental wood in the history of the human race._

_I had no idea who he was and as I parked my car I hoped like hell he wasn't some long lost cousin that had turned up out of the blue. Just in case he was, I thought over my stance on incest and decided that maybe it wasn't too bad after all. Yes, that's how sexy he was. At almost six and a half feet tall with long, lean muscles and a perfectly golden tan, I was in love before I ever made it to his face. I stepped out of the car, standing beside the open door while he shut the mower off and looked my way._

_He wiped the sweat off his forehead and squinted at me, obviously not recognizing me either. "Can I help you?"_

_I cocked an eyebrow at that. "I live here," I called back. I couldn't work up to my usual snarkiness with him looking all Playgirl like he did._

_"You must be Sookie," his face lit up in a smile and I swear it felt like he reached out and sucker punched my heart. He was so gorgeous, it was almost unreal. His face was perfect, even all sweaty and with the flush of exertion. His nose was a little wide but perfectly straight, he had adorable lines around his smile, the most beautiful blue eyes I'd ever seen. The little gaps in his teeth were just about the cutest thing on the planet and made him seem boyish even though everything else about him was very adult. His blonde hair looked like it was growing out of a bowl cut and was wet with sweat; as I studied his face, he ran a big hand through it and I shivered. He was so hot, I couldn't help it._

_"That's right," I answered, finally coming back to my senses. He was walking toward me and my eyes were glued to his abs, the muscles contracting with every step. With a herculean effort, I peeled them away and looked at his face instead. Which was wearing a slightly cocky grin, clearly a product of my obvious appraisal of his body. I felt myself blush and stepped out from behind the car door. When his eyes dropped to my body, I felt a little better about myself. It was hotter than the hinges of Hell outside and since I was only driving home, I'd worn a bikini top and a pair of cut off jeans for the ride. I was pleased to note that he found me just as fascinating as I found him and when he glanced back up to my face, I was sporting a little cocky grin of my own. "And you are?"_

_"Eric Northman," he answered quickly. "I rented the property across the way," he nodded toward the trees._

_"The old Compton place?" I asked._

_"That's the one," he smiled. "Gran came over with a casserole as soon as I got all moved in and we've been buddies ever since."_

_"Gran?" I narrowed my eyes suspiciously, getting a tiny bit jealous that he was using my nickname for her. He held his hands up, gesturing innocence._

_"I tried to call her Adele but she wouldn't hear of it," he explained. I had to laugh at that, knowing that what Gran said was law. I was about to reply when I heard her call from the porch._

_"Sookie? Is that you?" I turned my head, spotting her standing by the back door. She had her hand held over her eyes like a visor, blocking the sun._

_"Hey Gran!" I called, bounding over to the porch. I hadn't seen her since spring break and was missing her like crazy. A second later, her familiar scent was flooding my nose as I wrapped her up in a huge hug._

_"Oh dear, it's so good to have you home," she crooned in my ear. I smiled into her hair, thinking the same thing. I wanted to enjoy my time there because with my degree, I had planned to do a lot of traveling and had every intention of savoring the time I had with her._

_"Looks like you've found some company," I answered, stepping back from the hug and waggling my eyebrows at her._

_"Isn't he just the most handsome thing you ever saw?" she asked, a devilish grin on her beautiful face._

_"That's a resounding yes," I wholeheartedly agreed. He cleared his throat behind me, causing my whole body to blush with his nearness. I hadn't realized he'd followed me up to the porch. I looked over my shoulder at him, expecting that cocky grin again. What I got was a heated stare that made my whole body tingle. That's when I knew I was in trouble._

"Miss?" the bartender asked, jarring me back to reality.

"I'm sorry?" I was a little dazed, not realizing how deeply I'd fallen into my memory.

"Would you like another drink?" she gestured to my now empty glass. I nodded absently, unaware that I'd finished it off. Eric was like that, though. He always did make the world disappear for me. I smiled at her a few moments later when she sat a fresh glass in front of me.

"Thank you so much," I told her. She smiled and made her way down the bar. Heaving a sigh, I fished my Blackberry out of my purse and scrolled through some emails. I didn't want to work, but I didn't want to go down Northman Memory Lane, either. Our love had been hot, fast and all consuming. Our break up had been devastating. Luckily for me, nobody died from a broken heart. Although in my opinion, I had come pretty damn close. I sighed again, almost like I was trying to physically expel the thoughts from my mind. I tossed the phone back in my bag, severely uninterested in it at that moment. Picking my glass up and popping the straw in my mouth, I looked around the bar as I drank.

_The day we called it quits was forever burned into my memory. He had been taken completely off guard, which made it all the more difficult for me. I loved him so much, I could barely imagine a future without him in it. But he had made it clear he had no intentions of leaving Bon Temps and I had to get out. Every day I felt a little more claustrophobic. A little more chained down. Even the way he slept, with his arms locked around me, had started to feel like a harbinger of the future._

_After only six weeks of knowing each other, I'd moved most of my day to day stuff over to his place. We'd been doing little things to fix it up; painting a room here and there, changing the carpets, stuff like that. I was putting real life on pause for a while, not thinking of the future or starting my career. My Business Administration Major wasn't going anywhere and I figured I had a little time. We were inseparable that entire summer, never out of each other's sight longer than his eight hour shift on the road crew. Everything was perfect, clear up until the pregnancy scare we had a few months later._

_It turned out to be a false alarm, thank God, but it brought me crashing back to reality. As much as I loved Eric, and I did love him, I was not ready to start a family. I didn't know if I'd ever be ready. I'd never pictured myself as a wife or mother, especially after my parents' divorce. It had been a nasty split, befitting their nasty marriage, and when it was over they both left town. I hadn't heard from my mother since I was fourteen and my dad rarely ever checked in. I'd stayed with Gran at her insistence and though I missed them now and then, I never wanted for anything. I knew I didn't want to end up like them and when I finally got my period that November, I started sending out resumes._

_Any time I brought up relocating to Eric, he talked like it was some far off event in the future, usually changing the subject with sex. I'd been confused at first, knowing that he had also gone to college for Business Management and wondering why he didn't want to use it. I'd put it together eventually, though. His dad had been a corporate man and very rarely home when he was growing up. His mother was clinically depressed and so he was left by himself most of the time, with no family to speak of. When he'd moved to Bon Temps, he'd fallen in love with the charm of the tiny town and the homey citizens. I could understand that, but I couldn't agree to spend my life that way._

_Looking back, a clean break was the worst thing I could have tried for. I had already accepted the position with a national health care corporation before I even told Eric it had been offered. The day we broke up was the day before I flew to my first assignment. The look on his face when I told him was worse than if he would have hauled off and hit me. I was crying before he even said a word, begging him to understand. Before it was all said and done, we'd both cried, screamed, begged, broken things. It was devastating. Walking out of his door that last time was like cutting my soul away from my body._

Gran told me that a month after I'd been gone, he had stopped at her house to tell her goodbye. She didn't know where he was going but he moved from Bon Temps and nobody had seen him since. I had second guessed my decision for almost a year. I had immediately loved my job but I missed Eric like crazy and I was never sure if I'd done the right thing. Two years had passed now since the night I walked out of his life and even still, I found myself reminiscing about our time together. Like I said; hot, fast and all consuming.

I shook my head, reminding myself that there was nothing to be done about it. Catching the waitresses eye, I scooted my empty glass forward a bit. She came right over and a moment later, I was sipping on my third drink. The alcohol was finally stretching it's fingers out into my legs, giving me that fuzzy buzzed feeling. Once that glass was finished, I was headed back up to my room. I had to fly to Tennessee the next morning and didn't particularly want to be hungover when I did it. I stifled a little yawn and scanned the bar area once again, noticing it had filled a bit during my reminiscing.

Then my eyes landed on a hauntingly familiar pair of baby blues and my heart jumped into my throat. His hair was shorter, a shade darker. His face was a little older, a little harder, but still Eric. He stared back at me for a split second and then my vision blurred. I blinked quickly, horrified at the tears flooding my eyes. When I got them clear, his face had softened and it made my chest tighten. I offered him a smile, or as close to a smile as I could get, and he slowly stood from his chair. I watched him as he lifted a suit jacket from the back of his chair and a glass from the bar. His body moved the same way it always had as he made his way toward me. My heart went into hummingbird mode as I started to panic. What could I say to him? How could I explain myself? I couldn't figure out how to tell him how much I'd missed him and how hard it had been to leave him like that and how I had been sure I wouldn't make it without him for so long.

"Hello Sookie," he greeted me in a sad voice, draping his jacket over the chair next to me.

"Eric, I-"

"It's ok," he cut me off as he eased into the chair. "I understand. I didn't, at first, but I do now. I can't say I agree with the way you handled things but I know why you left me and I'm not mad anymore," he told me. I just looked at him for a minute, not sure what to say to that. I realized I would dearly love a shot of something strong at that moment and decided that's just what I would do.

"You still drink whiskey?" I asked, hopefully. He cracked that grin that cracked my heart.

"Does it still get dark at night?"

I laughed, breaking the tension. "I see some things will never change," I muttered, waving the bartender over. He laughed at my assessment and the sound brought tears to my eyes again. I kept my head turned toward the bartender until I got my shit together. "How have you been?" I asked, clearing my throat. When I looked at him, I felt that same pull I always had. He stared at me for a moment, feeling it too.

"I've missed you," he whispered. I pursed my lips, shifting them to the side as I teared up again. His hand left his lap but fell before it reached me and I swallowed hard to get rid of that nuisance of a lump in my damn throat.

"I've missed you too," I told him honestly. We were both quiet for a moment and then the waitress brought our shots, breaking the silence. The whiskey burned down the back of my throat and I hoped like hell it singed that lump for good. The clink of the shot glasses on the bar seemed louder than it should have been and I glanced up at Eric because I couldn't stand not looking at him anymore.

"You're still at your job?" he asked, eyes glued to mine. I nodded.

"I am. I love it," I confessed. He nodded.

"I'm glad to hear that," he said. "It would be a real shit kicker if you hated it," he added, chuckling a little. I joined him and a moment later, we were laughing hysterically, which effectively banished the awkwardness. As we caught up, I became more and more relaxed. Falling back into Eric was scary-easy and I found myself dreading the moment we would have to say goodbye.

He had taken a job with a computer company after I'd left. Said he couldn't stand being in the house alone and everywhere he went in the town reminded him of me. I felt like a heartless bitch as he recounted how lost he'd been without me and how he had eventually decided to get into business after all. He said he wished he had taken me more seriously when he'd had the chance but that he had moved on. I wasn't sure which part of that cut deeper but I just nodded through it. I started telling him about my job and then filled him in on a couple of good Gran stories.

After the waitress brought us our fourth shot of the night, he stared at the amber liquid in his for a moment. I watched him intently, studying the strong line of his jaw. HIs beautiful profile. Those lips. When he cut his eyes back up to me, the fire from the first time I'd met him was there again. I couldn't have looked away if I tried.

"Why don't we get together," he said roughly. "And break each other's hearts again."

The hope that flared in my chest scared me. Not only was I in bad decision mode thanks to the whiskey, but I also missed him so much it hurt and the offer, heartbreak notwithstanding, was just too good to pass up.

"I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to hold you again," I murmured, watching as my finger traced the rim of my glass. I wasn't even sure what drink it was. Fifth? Sixth?

"So would I," he told me, just as softly. I thought as quickly as the alcohol haze would allow, running over my options. No matter what happened when we left the bar, he would be on my mind for months thanks to this chance meeting. I'd been having so much fun catching up with him, once we'd made it past the initial phase, that I had forgotten how hard it was going to be to leave him at the end of the night. My mind, being the asshole that it is, chose that moment to supply a flashback of Eric's body against mine, moving the way only he could, his skin against mine, my hands tangled in his hair. My hand shifted over to the shot glass, lifting it up from the table.

"What doesn't kill you," I declared in toast form. He smiled one of those heart breaking smiles and lifted his shot, clinking it against mine.

"Only makes you stronger?" he finished, turning it into a question. I laughed, shaking my head. I tossed my shot back and he followed suit.

"I was gonna say 'will probably try again' but that works too," I answered, sitting the glass back onto the bar. He barked out a laugh, eyes dancing with warmth as they focused on me. I leaned toward him without thinking about it. he paused for only a moment and then met me halfway. When our lips touched, it felt like home.

When my eyes opened the next morning, I wasn't even disoriented. Waking up on Eric's chest seemed like the most natural thing in the world. Until everything came crashing into focus. My chest squeezed and I felt the bottom drop out of my stomach realizing I had to leave. Tempted as I was to throw everything away and try to start again with him, I didn't know if he even could. He'd told me he was working with a major corporation, traveling as much as I did for my own job. As far as I knew, our chance was gone and last night had just bee a fluke encounter.

Still, feeling his bare skin under mine was like a fantasy. His arms were wrapped tight around me even in his sleep. I had seen that as a sign of his attachment before, and it had scared me then. Now it made me feel loved and that damnable lump was back when I carefully maneuvered my way out of his embrace. Standing next to the bed, I took a moment to study his face. In his sleep, he was perfectly relaxed and I seriously considered crawling right back in beside him.

Instead, I found my clothes and got dressed as my headache started to kick in. Making my way into his bathroom, I filled a paper cup from the sink and drank it in one gulp. Filled it again and drained that one too. A glance in the mirror showed severe sex hair and slightly smeared mascara. I had to smile at the rosy color of my cheeks, knowing that it was thanks to Eric. I walked back out of the bathroom, taking one last look at him. He had shifted to his side and sprawled out, taking up most of the bed with his big body now that I was gone. I bit my lip, trying to postpone the moment when I would walk out the door and out of his life. Again.

In a moment of insanity (or clarity) I snatched the pen and hotel stationary from the desk against the wall. Before I could stop myself, I scrawled out a note.

_Eric,_

_I think I'm ready now. If you are too, we can try it without the heart break this time._

_Sookie._

I scribbled my number at the bottom and left before I could change my mind.

I could only hope that he would call and hold me to it.

**A/N Link on my profile to this Eric in case you're wondering what I'm smoking with the cute little gaps in his teeth part.**


	3. Love Like Crazy

**Snapshots of a life well lived, all from Eric's POV. E/S AH/AU/AF (All Fluff lol) (Seriously, total fluff) CH/AB own all this stuff.**

**Based on the song **_**Love Like Crazy **_**by Lee Brice**

I heaved the last bail of hay off the wagon and dragged the back of my arm across my forehead. It was hotter than a two dollar pistol and my back was screaming at me. If I had any good sense, I never would've started working on the Stackhouse farm in the first place. But then I never would've gotten Sookie to come around to my way of thinking, either. All in all, it was worth it. I peeled the worn rawhide gloves off my hands, stuffing them in the back pocket of my overalls as I swung myself up onto the seat. Shoving the shifter into gear, the old tractor jerked away and I bounced through the field back toward the barn. I was squinting to see, not only because of the sun but also because sweat was pouring off the top of my head right down into my eyes. Thank God I'd cut my ponytail off over the winter; I couldn't stand the heat of another summer with all that hair. Luckily, Sookie liked it just fine short like this.

Thinking of Sookie put all kinds of smiles on my face and I was grinning like the village idiot as I maneuvered the beat up old tractor into the barn. I'd had my eye on her since before we started kindergarden. Our mama's were friends and we used to have to play after church and every Wednesday when our families got together for dinner. She'd completely ignored me for the better part of my life, opting for the company of my kid sister Pam instead. That all changed last summer when I'd started working as a farmhand for her daddy.

I knew the overalls I wore were ridiculous, but I also knew they showed off a good bit of the muscles that had popped up on my arms that year. I wasn't above using any means available to catch her eye. I explained them away by claiming they were handy with all the extra pockets but I knew by the way my mama smiled when I left every morning that she had a hunch what was going on. I could still remember that first day I started like it was yesterday. I was half dead by lunch time, really kicking myself in the ass for ever deciding to do it in the first place. Mr. Stackhouse was having a good laugh watching me drag my carcass down to the house for sandwiches and it was only by the grace of God that I was able to compose myself when I saw Sookie draped over the front porch swing, reading a book. Her bare legs were dangling off the edge, her little cotton dress just blowin' in the wind.

Her daddy had hollered for her to get her mama, that we were ready for lunch. I remember how she jumped, startled by his voice, before she beamed one of those sunshine smiles at him. She jumped up, blonde ponytail bobbing, and just as she turned to go in the house, she caught sight of me and stopped dead in her tracks. To her credit, I had sprouted up a few inches and filled out a touch since school had let out that summer.

We were like deer in the headlights for a few seconds before Jason came barreling into the front yard, being his usual showboating self. The moment was lost, but I knew I had won; I finally had her attention. It only took a few weeks of flirting before I got the chance to make my move, which ended up being the best first kiss in the history of first kisses. Since then we'd had a lot of firsts together, each one a little better than the one before it.

Focusing back on what I was doing, I pulled the tractor into the barn and shut it off, throwing my legs over the side and hopping down to the dirt floor of the barn. "Looks like you worked up an honest sweat today." I jerked my head around to the barn doors to see Sookie leaning against the wall, one bare foot crossed behind the other leg with a glass of ice water in her hand. I grinned at her as I walked over.

"You could say that again," I agreed, gratefully taking the drink as she held it out. I pressed the sweating glass against my forehead for a second before downing it in one shot. She giggled as I finished drinking, her hands fiddling with the hem of her sundress. "You know, you really ought to wear something more decent," I told her, pulling her up against me with one arm. "The hired hands might get the wrong idea," I explained, bending to plant a kiss on her lips before leaning back to survey the front yard through the barn doors. We were pretty sure her folks knew we were going steady but that didn't mean I wanted her daddy catching me kissing on her.

She leaned into me, pressing her chest against my rib cage. "I think you and I have very different theories on what the 'wrong idea' is, Northman," she murmured, sliding one of her hands up the side of my neck. Her tone combined with the light touches on my skin had me tingling and I couldn't help glancing out the door again, even as I kneaded my fingers into the soft part of her hip with my free hand. She sighed dramatically, stepping back and snatching the empty glass away from me.

"Wha-"

"You seem distracted, which is really a shame," she called over her shoulder as she sauntered through the barn doors. I took two quick steps toward her and caught her elbow.

"Why's that?" I asked, chewing on my lip as I looked down into her eyes.

"Daddy had to take Mama into the butchers," she answered, dimples popping out in her cheeks as she grinned at me. I made a little humming noise in my throat, sliding both hands around her waist now and dropping my head down to nibble on her ear.

"That right?" I breathed against the sensitive skin there. If her parents were in town, that meant we were here alone. The fair was in and Mr. Stackhouse had given the other boys the week off so they could work there. I had chosen to stay working on the farm, for obvious reasons. As I sucked her earlobe into my mouth, I saw goosebumps pop up along her shoulder and smiled to myself.

"Yes, that's right," she murmured, hand sliding into the side of my overalls. Just as I moved to kiss her neck, she turned and slipped out of my grasp. "So like I said, it's a shame you're so distracted," she teased, taking off like a shot across the yard. I stayed hot on her heels, loving the way her legs moved as her feet hit the beaten dirt, and she squealed in anticipation of being caught. A few seconds later, my arms locked around her waist, pulling her body tight against mine.

She arched her back, pressing her shoulders into my chest and her bottom against my hips. "Mmmm, maybe you're not so distracted after all," she murmured, leaning her head back against my shoulder. I let a little snort out, my breath disturbing the wisps of hair coming out of her ponytail. I kissed behind her ear, working my way down her neck.

"Maybe not," I whispered, sliding a hand down the front of her dress. When my fingers found the hem, they slipped under and found nothing but skin. I groaned with the realization that she didn't have any britches on and she giggled in response. In a sudden move, she spun around to face me, stretching up onto her toes to plant a kiss on my lips.

"Let's go in the house, in case somebody shows up," she murmured against my lips. I hoisted her up in one quick movement, loving the delighted laugh that tumbled out of her throat as her legs wrapped around my waist. The idea of one of the farmhands or, God forbid, Jason showing up and catching us outside was not appealing on any level, so I made a beeline for the front porch. Her arm shot out to open the screen door when I paused and then we were in the house. I somehow managed to climb the stairs with her still wrapped around me and a second later, I was depositing her onto her bed. Her eyes glowed up at me as I unclasped the straps on my overalls, kicking my boots off and then settling between her legs.

A few seconds later, her dress was gone and her legs were wrapped around me again. I lost myself a little as I pushed slowly into her, the feeling taking over like it always did. She pressed her body flush against mine, her mouth wet on my neck and her little hands holding tight to my shoulders. "I love you, Sookie, you know that?" I asked, a little breathless. She hummed in her throat, reaching up to kiss my mouth.

"I love you back," she answered, looking in my eyes. My heart swelled and I thought, not for the first time, that she was the only one for me.

….

"Tara May! Do not feed your brother crayons! Eric!" I heard Sookie's screech from the kitchen just as clear as if she was standing right next to me and I had to chuckle. I sat the wrench down on the tiled floor, hoisting myself up. The bathroom sink was gonna have to wait a minute. Stepping into the doorway of the kitchen, I had to smile at the chaos in the room. Sookie was balancing Claudine on one hip and stirring a bubbling pot of something with the other hand. Eric Jr was sitting on the floor, babbling away, while Tara was squatting in from of him with a handful of crayons.

"Here baby," she cooed in her own baby voice, pushing a blue crayon towards his mouth. He grinned up at her, slobber all over his chin. I shook my head, laughing under my breath at her persistence. Just as she maneuvered the crayon in, Claudine squealed happily from Sookie's hip, eyes on her siblings. Apparently she was overjoyed that Tara was finally feeding their brother the crayon. I took a step forward, bending down and swooping my daughter off the ground before my son had the chance to actually eat the damn thing.

Her brows crashed down over her big blue eyes, a clear indicator she was pissed. I threw her up in the air, catching her when she fell and she instantly forgot to be mad. Instead, she giggled out loud, sounding like a miniature version of her mother. When I pulled her against my chest, she clasped her little hands around my neck and kissed me on the cheek, with minimal slobber residue left behind. I kissed her cheek in return and pulled back to look her in the eyes.

"Why you wanna feed your brother crayons?" I asked her, seriously. She thought for a second before answering, something I loved about her. She was only three years old but she already considered most of her words carefully. It was just about the cutest damned thing I'd ever seen.

"Him's hungry," she finally answered, rubbing a fat little palm against the stubble on my cheek.

"For crayons?" I asked, raising an eyebrow in disbelief. She grinned, her chubby cheeks dimpling.

"Yep, for crans," she confirmed. It was hard not to smile at her tactics, but she shouldn't be feeding him crayons and I didn't want to give her the wrong message.

"Little boys don't eat crayons, silly," I told her, tickling her side. She squealed and twisted her little body away from my hand, laughing wildly. After a second, I stopped with the tickling, noticing that Sookie had paused in her pot-stirring and was giving me The Look from across the kitchen. When Tara stopped laughing, I looked at her seriously.

"And didn't I hear Mama tell you to stop?" I asked soberly. She dropped her eyes to her tiny hands, which she fidgeted with for a second before mumbling a confirmation. "When Mama says something, we listen. Don't we?" I lifted her chin up with a finger. Her big blue eyes were shining with tears, something I'd swear all three of my children could do on command. She nodded her head, her bottom lip shaking a little. "You gonna tell her you're sorry?" I asked in a softer tone. She blinked a couple times and nodded again, squirming to get down. I bent over, depositing her on the ground. She made her way over to Sookie, who was looking at me with a crooked smile on her face.

I grinned back at her just before our oldest latched onto her leg and wailed, "I sorry, Mama!" Sookie turned her laugh into an 'aw' as she got down on one knee. She wrapped her free arm around Tara, her hand stroking through the pale blonde curls. Claudine laughed, delighted, and smacked Tara right in the back of the head. Luckily, at eleven months, her hand/eye coordination was not very good and the impact was minimal.

"It's ok baby, but you got mind me and Daddy when we tell you something, ok?" Sookie murmured against Tara's little shoulder. Her head nodded frantically, though she kept it buried in the crook of Sookie's neck. "You wouldn't like it if I fed you crayons, now would you?"

Tara stilled for a second and leaned back to look into Sookie's face. "Only if it was the lellow ones, they taste best," she answered seriously. Sookie looked up at me, I shook my head and grinned at her, mouthing _She's your daughter_ in response. She rolled her eyes but smiled back. After she explained that no crayons were ok to eat, no matter how good they tasted, she planted a kiss on Tara and sent her back to playing. She also let Claudine down, who crawled haphazardly behind her sister. Eric was making his unsteady way toward me by that time, and Tara didn't think twice about pushing him down on her way past. I face-palmed at the 'one step forward, two steps back' way of life Tara seemed destined to live and bent to pick him up before he could start crying.

Our parents had told us we were crazy when we got married. Seventeen was way too young, they'd said. They were probably right, but the way we figured it, our age didn't matter. I knew I wanted her forever, she knew she wanted me forever, and there was no reason to wait. Ultimately, they supported us. We were good kids, obviously crazy for each other, and we'd grown up together. It seemed natural, not just to us, but to everyone around us. It may have been a little rushed, and I know lots of folks thought Sookie was pregnant, but we proved them wrong.

Tara hadn't come into the picture until two years later, not long after we'd bought our first house on Maple Street. Of course we'd stayed in Bon Temps, our families were both there and we had no reason or desire to leave. The house seemed perfect at the time, with two bedrooms and a big old picture window in the front room that Sookie just loved. Three years later and three kids bigger, though, our family had definitely outgrown it. Tara and Eric, we had planned for. Claudine had been a surprise, though not in a bad way. Sookie and I had both agreed we wanted a big family, we just hadn't planned on it getting that big that fast. Three kids under the age of five was enough to drive anyone nuts and I had no idea how Sookie did it all day while I was working at the factory.

Somehow, though, we stayed happy and in love. We were best friends as well as man and wife. We got our brood to church every Sunday, shared lots of I Love You's, and worked hard for everything we had. We'd been able to put back a little money every month, although if you asked me now how we did that with my measly income, I wouldn't be able to say. We were looking for either a bigger house or some land to build on, knowing that we'd have at least a little help from our families with that. It was hard, but it was worth it, and as I watched my wife spooning chili into bowls on the counter, I wouldn't have changed a thing.

"Sookie," I called softly from my spot near the table. She turned her head, smiling at the sight of Eric Jr pulling my hair with both hands, babbling away. I smiled back at her. "You know I love you, right?"

"I love you back," she answered, not missing a beat. Her eyes narrowed as they focused behind my head. "Tara May! Get that crayon out of your sisters nose!" I spun around to see Tara looking guilty as all get out, slowly sliding a red crayon out of Claudine's left nostril. I shook my head.

"We gotta rid of those damn crayons," I muttered, watching Tara make a face as she wiped the thing on her dress.

….

"Smile!" Pam commanded, just before snapping the picture. I was standing side by side with Sookie, our children gathered around us. Holly and Amelia, our twins, had just graduated college. They'd gone to LSU together, both studying to be teachers. My sister and the kids had all come up for the girls' big day. Looking at our brood, my chest swelled with pride.

Tara was the tallest of our girls, standing straight and proud, as always. She kept her blonde hair cut short, claiming that it 'lent her sophistication' and helped her to be taken seriously as a lawyer. She was always so put together and so sure that Sookie and I had no idea that she was a lesbian. We never brought it up, knowing she'd be uncomfortable talking about her sex life with her old fogey parents, but we knew. She'd been bringing her 'friend' Miriam home from New York on every holiday for almost three years, and we couldn't be more pleased that she'd found someone. They were obviously happy every time they came around and that's all we wanted for her.

Eric was just my height and the spitting image of me, to boot. Blonde hair, blue eyes, broad shoulders. He'd been married for four years now to a beautiful young woman named Jessica. They had two little boys, Corbett and Sam. Corbett was blonde and blue like his daddy while Sam had inherited Jessica's red hair and freckles. Eric worked in finance and Jessica was a stay at home mom. They lived in Shreveport and made it over to the house to visit at least once a month.

Claudine was our spitfire, always looking for trouble. Finding it, too, more often than not. She was petite, like Sookie, and looked just like she had when we were young. Long blonde hair, tanned all year round, little mischievous grin on her face all hours of the day and night. She was engaged to a boy name Quinn, who she was head over heels for. I wasn't sure about him at first but they'd been seeing each other for a little over a year now and he seemed determined to stick by her side. They'd met at Merlotte's, where she'd been waitressing for the last three years. She had a college degree, all of our kids did, but she claimed to love working as a bar maid. As long as she was doing ok and happy with her life, we were content with her choices.

Alex was tall like his brother and gorgeous like his mother. He was an actor now, just having gotten his first big break on a new television show about vampires. We watched it every week, though it was difficult to keep up with and we weren't too keen on watching all his sex scenes. Which meant we had to skip about half of each episode. He had followed Tara up to New York as soon as he'd graduated high school. She'd let him move in with her while he went to college there and he'd started modeling underwear before he graduated. We had a stash of magazines at the house with his picture plastered all over the front, a new woman on his arm almost every week. I was proud of him, like I was all of my children, but I really hoped he'd find someone special someday.

Then there were our babies, the twins. Amelia and Holly had been born within two minutes of each other and they were identical. Their whole lives, they were inseparable. Hell, they even dressed alike until they were teenagers. Even then, they always kept their hair the same and mimicked each other's style. They even had jobs lined up at the same high school in Georgia, where they were moving at the end of the summer. They were a few years younger than Alex, and therefore had grown up in a mostly empty house. By the time they were in middle school, Alex was a senior and the rest of the kids were long gone. I had to admit they were a little spoiled but I challenge you to say no to four big blue eyes, batting innocently up at you, two perfectly matched smiles right under them. Harder than it sounds, I'll tell you that.

All in all, we'd done pretty well. When I'd quit my job at the factory, way back when, to work with computers, we'd been scared shitless. I had no idea if it was a smart move and had acted purely on a hunch. Everybody, and I do mean everybody, told us how stupid we were. We'd had four of our six kids and not too much left in savings at that point, since we'd bought a bigger house with a bigger mortgage by then. Sookie supported me all the way, of course, and thank God she had. When I'd been approached by Microsoft, years later, I nearly had a heart attack at the amount of money they offered. Of course I sold to them, it was impossible to pass up. We'd been able to put all the kids through college, pay off the house, and then some.

Looking over at Sookie now, my heart was full to bursting. She smiled at me, her soft skin wrinkling at her eyes and around her mouth. Her blonde hair was streaked with gray now but her smile shone just as brightly as it did that first summer, so many years ago. I knew that I was showing signs of my age, too. I was still tall, nowhere close to hunching yet, but I wasn't as lean as I'd been most of my life. My hair was graying and my face was wrinkled as well. My knees gave out every now and again and I was getting arthritis in my hands. It was a shock to realize that so much time had passed in my life but I'd spent every minute wisely. I could honestly say I had no regrets. Even through the hard times, when I had no idea how we were going to survive from week to week, I'd had more than most. I reached around Sookie's waist, pulling her close to me. She looked up, her eyes watering. I had no doubt she was thinking along my same lines and those tears were ones of happiness.

"You know I love you, right?" she asked softly. I smiled, my throat tightening up as she took the words out of my mouth. I bent and kissed her cheek.

"I love you back."

**A/N Since last week's was a little sad, I thought I would put this stiflingly fluffy one up. It originally began as an entry for the Citrus Tree Contest (which you can kind of see in the first part) but I lost momentum and abandoned it. I'm working on a funny O/S for this story but hit a wall with that one too, so I decided to go back and finish this one instead. It changed from lemonfest to ridonk fluff monster at some point, but I hope you enjoyed it anyway.**

**Thanks to Erin1705 for reading and reviewing the first installment, you are seriously so kick ass, I can't even find the words to adequately describe it =)  
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**Next week: Either the funny one I'm working on or a drama/angst-ish one that popped into my head the other day. I'm not sure how I'll do with that genre, but I'm willing to find out! Thanks for reading =)**


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